Armagh, Northern Ireland, Jul 9, 2019 / 23:18 pm
An archbishop in Northern Ireland has called for the reigniting of a "temperance movement" to address the problem of alcohol and drugs, in the wake of increasing gang violence in the country.
"We see how addictions like this can devastate family life and social life...There is no future in a life of crime associated with drugs," Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh, primate of all Ireland, told the Irish Independent on Sunday.
His comments were prompted in part by a spate of violence in Drogheda, a town 30 miles north of Dublin, which has included shootings and arson attacks, the most recent being a gasoline bomb attack on a house Tuesday morning. The attacks are thought to be the result of a feud between rival gangs.
Drogheda has seen around 80 violent incidents in recent months, including gasoline bombings, shootings and assaults in the town linked to the gang violence, the Irish Independent reports.